Russell J. Tyler '71 will always be remembered for providing
some of the most exciting moments in Brown basketball history in
his swan song at Marvel Gym against URI in March of 1971. The large
crowd came to see whether or not Tyler (who needed 20 points) or
Arnie Berman '72 (who needed 13) could break Joe Tebo's
single-season scoring mark of 522 points. With the fans shouting
"shoot" every time he touched the ball, the 6-3 Tyler went on a
scoring spree, sinking six of his first seven shots. By half-time
he had 24 points, breaking Tebo's record and setting him up for a
chance at the most prestigious of all records - the 48 points in
one game scored by Harry Platt '40 in 1938. As his team rolled on
toward a 95-78 victory over the Rams, the Thompsonville, Conn.
native, stayed hot, moving closer and closer to Platt's record. He
lost one basket when a foul was called on a teammate just before
Rusty shot. The loss of this bucket turned out to be costly because
Tyler, who threw in a bomb just at the buzzer, eventually had to
settle for 46 points. Shooting entirely from the outside, without
benefit of any lay-ups, Rusty Tyler had made 18 of 30 attempts for
60 percent and had connected on 10 of 11 free throws. As both the
Brown and the URI fans in the packed house stood applauding at the
final whistle, Tyler's teammates picked up the Bruin captain and
carried him off the court. But Russ Tyler was anything but a
one-game performer. In addition to setting the single-season
records for scoring with 548 points, Tyler owned the Brown records
for season assists, career assists, consecutive free throws, free
throw percentage, and most field goals in a season. And as a
senior, Tyler was second in the nation in free-throw percentage. He
ended his career fourth on the all-time Brown scoring list with
1,133 points and was named to the ECAC All-East first team. "Tyler
gave Brown something it seldom had, a big, strong guard with
outside shooting range," says Stan Ward, the man who recruited
Tyler. "He wasn't a penetrator, but he had a superb jump shot and
unusual range." Russ Tyler is now a partner of the Enfield, Conn.,
law firm of Tyler and Tyler.